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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Yhn C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21
Yhn 4 V1 V3 V5 V7 V9 V11 V13 V15 V17 V19 V21 V23 V25 V27 V29 V31 V33 V35 V37 V39 V41 V43 V45 V47 V49 V51 V53
OET (OET-LV) and well of_ the _Yakōb was there.
Therefore the Yaʸsous having_wearied from the journey, was_sitting thus at the well.
The_hour was about the_sixth.
OET (OET-RV) and ‘Yacob’s well’ was there. Yeshua was tired from all the walking and was sitting by the well around midday.
In this section Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman who had come to get water from a well. Jesus asked her for a drink of water. The woman was surprised that he spoke to her. Jesus was a Jew, and most Jewish people hated the Samaritans. But Jesus stayed and talked with the woman.
Jesus told the woman that he could give her living water, and he told her that he was the Messiah. The women went back to her town and brought many of the other Samaritan people to Jesus.
It is good to translate the section before giving it a title. Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Jesus brought good news to the hated Samaritan people
The conversation at the well
This paragraph tells why Jesus was sitting by a well in Samaria. Jesus was returning to Galilee with his disciples. On the way he passed through Samaria. When they reached Jacob’s well, he sat down to rest.
Since Jacob’s well was there,
There was a well named after Jacob on that land/field.
A well called Jacob’s well was still there.
Jacob’s well was there: This well had belonged to the OT person Jacob. He dug this well, or told others to dig it, long ago. You may be able to imply that this refers to something in the distant past. For example:
The well that Jacob had dug was still there. (CEV)
The well that used to belong to Jacob was there.
well: A well is a deep hole in the ground that has water in the bottom. People can lower buckets into the well to get water.
Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well.
Jesus, because he was tired after his journey, sat down by the well.
Jesus was tired from his trip, so he sat down next to the well.
Jesus sat down by the well because he was tired from traveling.
Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well: This clause continues to set the scene for the conversation in the rest of this section. It explains why Jesus was sitting by the well when a woman arrived. In some languages it may be natural to translate this using two clauses. For example:
Jesus was tired from his long trip, and so he sat down beside the well. (NCV)
weary from His journey: The phrase that the BSB translates as weary from His journey explains why Jesus rested. The travel made Jesus tired. Here are other ways to translate this phrase:
Jesus was tired from his long trip (NCV)
because the journey had made him tired
His journey: This phrase refers to the fact that Jesus had traveled a long way. In some languages it may be natural to translate journey as a clause. For example:
he had walked/traveled a long way
In some languages it may be natural to reorder the information in 4:6b. You may want to first say what Jesus did and then why he did it. For example:
Jesus sat down by the well because he was tired from traveling. (GW)
It was about the sixth hour.
It was the middle of the day.
The sun was high in the sky.
It was about the sixth hour: The BSB translates literally the Greek clause as about the sixth hour. In New Testament times people started counting the hours of the day at sunrise, about 6 a.m. In some languages it is more natural to say it in a different way. For example:
the sun was in the center of the sky
it was the middle of the day
It was about noon. (NRSV)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
ἐκεῖ
there
In this case, there refers to the town of Sychar mentioned in the previous verse. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [there at Sychar]
Note 2 topic: grammar-connect-time-sequential
ὁ οὖν Ἰησοῦς
¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἦν δέ ἐκεῖ πηγή τοῦ Ἰακώβ ὁ Οὖν Ἰησοῦς κεκοπιακώς ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ἐκαθέζετο οὕτως ἐπί τῇ πηγῇ Ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη)
Then here indicates that the events the story will now relate came after the event just described in the previous verse. If it would be helpful in your language, you could show this relationship by using a fuller phrase. Alternate translation: [When Jesus came to Sychar]
Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
κεκοπιακὼς
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἦν δέ ἐκεῖ πηγή τοῦ Ἰακώβ ὁ Οὖν Ἰησοῦς κεκοπιακώς ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ἐκαθέζετο οὕτως ἐπί τῇ πηγῇ Ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη)
This clause indicates the reason why Jesus sat by the well. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning explicitly. Alternate translation: [because he had grown weary]
Note 4 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result
ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας
from the journey
This phrase indicates the reason why Jesus had grown weary. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning explicitly. Alternate translation: [because of the journey]
ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη
(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἦν δέ ἐκεῖ πηγή τοῦ Ἰακώβ ὁ Οὖν Ἰησοῦς κεκοπιακώς ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ἐκαθέζετο οὕτως ἐπί τῇ πηγῇ Ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη)
In this culture, people began counting the hours each day beginning around daybreak at six o’clock in the morning. Here, the sixth hour indicates a time in the middle of the day, when it would be the hottest. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express this in the way the people of your culture reckon time. Alternate translation: [about noon] or [about 12:00 PM]
4:1-42 At a historic well in Samaria, Jesus offered himself as living water. Jesus engaged and confronted people with the revelation of God, and they either followed or fell away.
• The Samaritan woman contrasted with Nicodemus at every turn: a woman (not a man), a Samaritan (not a Jew), a sinner (not righteous), and an outcast (not one of Israel’s rabbis). While Nicodemus fell silent and never responded to Jesus’ challenges (3:1-21), this woman acknowledged Jesus as Lord, remained in the light, and exhibited signs of discipleship (see 1:35-51).
OET (OET-LV) and well of_ the _Yakōb was there.
Therefore the Yaʸsous having_wearied from the journey, was_sitting thus at the well.
The_hour was about the_sixth.
OET (OET-RV) and ‘Yacob’s well’ was there. Yeshua was tired from all the walking and was sitting by the well around midday.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The SR Greek text, lemmas, morphology, and VLT gloss are all thanks to the CNTR.
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